Best practices for digital communication - Instagram : how to use it

It allows you to build a community of your own and to become a member of the users’ communities. You can choose to share content (photos, videos, carousels, reels, etc.) with a restricted community (private account) or all users (public account). Instagram sits in fourth place in terms of the global number of active users across all social platforms, totalling almost 1.5 billion active users.

In Q4 2021, Instagram became the most downloaded app in the world, knocking TikTok off the top spot. It underwent a surge in popularity after being purchased by Facebook and around 60% of its monthly users now spend several hours a day using the platform.

With a primarily young, female usership (on average under 34, 65% female), this social network represents a golden opportunity for any entity wishing to develop a community to establish its image and gain visibility

Why use Instagram?

Time spent using Instagram has increased by 10% year on year, which is almost one additional hour of use per month according to the data published by App Annie, the global point of reference for the mobile phone industry specialising in mobile data analytics. The latest data published in Meta’s advertising resources show that Instagram’s advertising reach surged by 21% over the last year. In terms of the “favourite” social media platforms worldwide, the latest data from GWI, an audience targeting company, shows that Instagram has now overtaken Facebook to take second place in the global rankings. The score is, however, close: 14.8% of global Internet users state that Instagram is their favourite platform, compared with 14.5% for Facebook.

In addition to this, Instagram also offers other traditional, yet substantial benefits. As the social network for images, on which aesthetics and visual quality are a must, Instagram allows you to use numerous formats to communicate with your audience: posts, stories, reels, guides or even an online shop, all of which are at your disposal to succeed with your digital strategy. Influencer marketing on Instagram can also be an ideal solution to increase your recognition. Thanks to the large audiences of influencers on this social network, who you need to select beforehand to make sure they fit your area, your values and your vision, you will have more opportunities to gain visibility with your target audience.

The arguments in favour of using this platform to showcase your entity are endless.

Features and how it works

In order to optimise your Instagram strategy, it is important to know how this social network works to gain success. Using its own algorithm, Instagram determines the newsfeed for each user. Specifically, this is “calculated” based on how each user uses the platform. This is a customised approach that automatically predefines the placement of posts based on each person’s affinities and the way they use the network.

Simple to use, with a range of filters, themes and areas that bring users together and pique their interest, Instagram also allows you to create reels or post livestreams to be closer to users. In this way, it allows you to improve the quality of your photos, contextualise your posts by using text and hashtags, tagging other accounts and using the geotagging tool.

In sum, Instagram is an essential app for honing your posts however you like and reaching out to as many potential future community members as possible.

Creating engagement

In order to create engagement on your Instagram account, you firstly need to analyse the performance of your posts, specifically to find which types of posts you publish are most effective. This enables you to prioritise certain formats over others and improve your messages based on what appeals to your community. Choosing quality visuals is also essential here. As mentioned above, Instagram is the social network of images and it is therefore important that your cultivate yours as a priority.

There are numerous other tools and tips available to you to develop your engagement rate such as using carousels, which allow you to publish several photos in one post, or using hashtags to increase visibility. Also, don’t forget to customise the caption of your post so it is effective and impactful. You can even use calls to action by inviting your followers to interact with you and among themselves.

Finally, don’t hesitate to identify other accounts as your partners or brand ambassadors (influencers) and, above all, publish your post at the right time, when it will receive the greatest possible coverage.

Sponsorship

If you want to increase your recognition on Instagram, think about promoting your posts. As it is part of the Facebook group, Instagram gives you the same account promotion possibilities. The app therefore allows you to launch your campaign with a minimum budget of €5 per day, to access the same targeting options as on Facebook and even to interact with Internet users in your sponsored posts.

The posts you want to boost can be posted in both your newsfeed and your stories. You should bear in mind that sponsored posts are currently only visible on the mobile version and not on the desktop version.

Follow the steps below to promote one of your posts:

- Choose the post you’d like to boost.

- Select your target destination so you can redirect users when they click on your ad.

- Target users with profiles similar to those of your fans or a specific demographic category that you want to reach through your post.

- Finally, give your ad a duration and budget that will be sufficient to ensure it has optimum visibility.

Statistics and performance

If you have an Instagram Business profile, you will already have integrated statistics. Instagram gives you access to valuable data about your followers, especially those who react to your photos and videos. This means you have several types of data at your disposal, in particular demographic data, showing the age, gender and a range of other statistics about your followers.

The most relevant KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to use are :

- Impressions : the number of times Instagram users have seen your post, whether these are followers or users having received your message another way. However, if only one user sees your post on multiple occasions, the system counts this as new impressions.

- Reach : this metric allows you to be more specific and see how many people have actually been reached by your sponsored post. Unlike impressions, multiple instances by the same users are excluded here.

- Engagement rate : as a key indicator of how your audience interacts with your content, the engagement rate is a point you should constantly work to improve. It allows you to identify the subjects and messages that resonate with your audience and to deploy your editorial strategy to this end.

Practical advice

- Create quality, impactful content and prioritise video format.

- Use the most popular hashtags to gain visibility.

- Keep track of when your posts gain the greatest engagement and publish your future posts at these times.

- Identify the type of content that generates the most engagement and reproduce it regularly.

- Use influencers to reach larger audiences.

- Continually monitor your performance to adjust and fine-tune your strategy.

- Interact with your community on a daily basis.

Discover the complete guide : Best Practices for digital communication